December 31, 2007

Remembering Devereaux Cannon Jr.

Devereaux Cannon Jr., whose hand-cobbled blog Tax Free Tennessee was one of my inspirations in my early days of blogging, died suddenly and unexpectedly Dec. 29. I never got to meet Mr. Cannon, though I spoke with him on the phone many times and exchanged emails with him countless hundreds of times during the great Tennessee Income Tax War of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Truth be told, Cannon and his website were invaluable resources to those of us who were writing and speaking out in opposition to the proposed state income tax.

When that battle began, the pro-income tax side had the Tennessee Democratic Party and its majorities in the state House and Senate, it had the governor, it had an organized lobbying and activist organization, and it had the state's major newspapers all aligned in support of the income tax. The opposition had little except the grassroots - and from it emerged folks like Ben Cunningham and Devereaux Cannon Jr., sifting through the rhetoric and the data to find the facts and marshal the arguments against the tax.

Their victory was when I realized how the Internet was enabling the grassroots with new tools and new power to affect change and influence the media, elected officials and the direction of public policy.

Devereaux Cannon Jr. was more than just a warrior against the income tax - much more. I'll let Ben Cunningham and A.C. Kleinheider fill you in.

Voter Photo ID Unfair?

Nathan More comments on the suggestion of requiring Tennessee voters to have a photo-ID voter registration card in order to be allowed to vote:

The argument advanced by some here in Tennessee is that such a vote will "depress turnout". And they're right - it will depress turnout of those who shouldn't be voting in the first place. If the argument is simply that presently reliable Democrat voting blocks aren't motivated enough to go get a voter identification card once every five years, paid for by the government, I extend my deepest sympathies to Democrat politicians everywhere who are going to have to find new, more dynamic groups to pander to. That is a disingenuous argument.

Another argument against the law is that it is unfair to the homeless, and is a new version of the "poll tax". Too bad there is no cost to the card, thus no tax, and no argument. Both the Indiana and Georgia law contain indigency provisions for the identification card, simply requiring that one be able to prove who they are. The further argument that obtaining a birth certificate, which is valid over one's entire lifetime, to prove one's identity is too onerous, seems especially overboard to me.

Happy Holidays from Achmed the Dead Terrorist

Jeff Dunham rocks. More from Dunham here.

Ballroom Update

The Memphis Commercial-Appeal's legislative reporter, Richard Locker, updates the Bredesen Ballroom controversy in a big story today that glosses over some key facts. While Locker accuses the Tennessee Republican Party of making "exaggerated claims" in this news release on the ballroom's history and funding, Locker ignores a key fact revealed in that press release - the Bredesens' fiscal shell game designed to pretend the underground party hall is being financed with private money rather than tax dollars.

(And while Locker's article gives his opinion about the TRP's press release, he doesn't give readers any link or help to find the lengthy release - and 20 pages of supporting state records - online, so they might read it for themselves and come to their own conclusions.)

While Locker's story does inform readers that taxpayers are now paying $12.8 million of the total cost of the renovation and expansion of the Governor's Mansion, he doesn't put that figure in proper context, which is this: Five years ago Gov. Bredesen and his wife told the people of Tennessee that the project would require only $1.5 million in tax dollars. And the underground ballroom project is the cause of more than half of the $11.3 million in additional tax dollars going to the project.

Sen. Kyle's Latest PR Stunt

Democrat state Sen. Jim Kyle wants to lock the barn gate now that the horse has already escaped. He is proposing legislation that would require the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance to levy a fine equal to the amount a candidate steals from their own campaign fund. But of course the legislation won't impact former state Sen. Jerry Cooper, the Morrison Democrat who embezzled nearly $95,000 from his own campaign account over a period of two years.

It's just another empty PR stunt from Sen. Kyle, who only recently was lionizing Cooper and asserting - irony unintended - that the state Senate would be "a poorer place" after Cooper's resignation - but now is trying to play catch-up on the issue of how to punish legislators who steal from their own campaign accounts.

Kyle knows that Cooper has more than $200,000 left in his campaign account, money that Kyle no doubt hopes Cooper will distribute to an array of Democrat legislative candidates in the 2008 election cycle. He's certainly not going to propose legislation that would impact Cooper retroactively and interfere with Cooper's attorney's effort to force the TREF to reduce its original $120,000 fine to less than $15,000, so that Cooper can retain an $80,000 profit for his theft.

Sen. Kyle's legislation would only fine candidates the amount that they stole. In other words, if they get caught, they break even and there's no real punishment - in effect, Kyle's bill will not do much to make it less attractive to steal one's own campaign funds.

Kyle's legislation is a weak attempt to play catch-up to a legislative proposal made two weeks ago by state Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, who announced he was having legislation drafted that would set the fine at $10,000 above the amount stolen.

Update: Upon reading Campfield's blog post on Kyle's legislation, I realized I was wrong when I said that Sen. Kyle's legislation would only fine candidates the amount that they stole. According to Campfield, under Kyle's legislation, the fine equaling the amount transferred to personal use would be in addition to the fine assessed for committing a Class 2 offense, which has a penalty of up to $10,000 or, if greater, 15 percent of the amount converted.

In other words, Kyle's proposed legislation merely copies a legislative proposal already floated by Rep. Campfield.

Not Your Typical Campaign Ad

If you've ever despaired of the shallow sound-bite, attack-ad style of campaigning that's come to dominate election campaigns from the presidential race on down, you just have to love Fred Thompson's latest ad aimed at the good people of Iowa, even if you aren't supporting Fred in the presidential race. It's 15 minutes of quiet substance, detail and a candidate speaking to voters like they are responsible adults rather than kids to be marketed the latest sugary breakfast cereal, violent video game or noisy, blinking toy.

Here's analysis from Peter Robinson at National Review's blog "The Corner."

Wouldn't it be nice to see similar videos from Giuliani, McCain, Romney and Huckabee?

Lowest Life Form Yet Discovered

The lowest form of life ever discovered on planet Earth has been found in Chicago, Illinois. It's lower than pond scum, less desirable than the ebola virus, deserving of none of the respect you gave that dog crap you once scraped off your shoe. It's name: Attorney Jay R. Grodner. If anyone on Planet Earth deserves a swarm of blog and media coverage that wrecks his professional reputation, it is Attorney Jay Grodner.

Feel free to copy this blog post and make sure to link the name of Attorney Jay R. Grodner to the story showing just how vile an individual Attorney Jay Grodner really is. Do you part to make sure that whenever someone does a Google search for Attorney Jay Grodner, they find out just how disgusting an excuse for a human being he is.

Update: It's not surprising that that Chicago Lawyer Jay R. Grodner has a history of rather criminal behavior.

December 29, 2007

Time for a Media African Safari

Barack Obama claims foreign policy experience because his grandmother "lives in a tiny hut in Africa." Now, one of two things is true. Either Obama, a multi-millionaire, is a miserly jerk who hasn't bothered to help his grandmother get into better living quarters, or he's lying. I'm not expecting the national media to send a crew to Africa to find Grandmama Obama and - if indeed she lives in a tiny hut - to ask her if Barack has offered to move her into, say, a larger hut or even perhaps a shack or even maybe an apartment, but I'm willing to be surprised...

Theft of Nashville Election Commission Laptops Highlights Need for Voter Photo ID Law

The Tennessean reports on a new state law effective New Year's Day designed to make it harder for criminals to snatch Social Security numbers.

The law bans companies, nonprofit groups and even government agencies in most cases from sending mailings containing Social Security numbers or from requiring Web site visitors to log in using Social Security numbers. It also forbids displaying Social Security numbers on most identification cards.

The theft of some laptop PCs holding just such information from Nashville's Metro Election Commission offices over the Christmas holiday has put 337,000 people at heightened risk of becoming a victim of identity theft. The crime also highlights the need for the state legislature to pass new laws requiring voters to show picture ID at the polling place.

Having the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of thousands of registered voters would enable mass voter fraud if the information was in the hands of people who had that intent - but not if state law required a picture ID to vote.

Also, if state law required a photo ID to vote, election commissions wouldn't need to provide so much identifying information on laptops to poll workers.

The Tennessee Republican Party has endorsed voter photo ID legislation, but Democrats in the state legislature have largely opposed such efforts to make voter fraud - and identity theft - less possible.

In the last session, Senate Bill 0227/House Bill 0938 was a Republican bill with multiple Republican co-sponsors but only one House Democrat co-sponsor. It passed the Senate on 18-10 vote, with all 16 Republicans plus independent Sen. Micheal Williams and Democrat Sen. Doug Henry voting for it. The ten votes against the sensible voter ID legislation? All Democrats: Charlotte Burks, Ward Crutchfield, Lowe Finney Thelma Harper, Joe Haynes, Roy Herron, Tommy Kilby, Rosalind Kurita, Jim Kyle and Beverly Marrerro. (Dickson Democrat Doug Jackson was recorded as "present, not voting.")

The legislation was never even acted on in the Democrat-controlled House.

It matters who governs.

Why do Tennessee Democrats not want to make vote fraud more difficult?

(While the voter photo ID legislation as proposed was good, I'd suggest that in light of the Nashville election commission laptop theft, legislators should actually go beyond requiring a photo ID to vote and require that election commissions issue a voter registration card with the voter's picture on it, the same way that driver's licenses have the driver's picture. Such cards could contain the person's name, photo, and voting precinct information, but no Social Security number or address. The technology exists. The need exists. Unfortunately, the political will among Democrats, who still control the state House, does not.)

December 28, 2007

Cross Your Fingers

I know no details about this photo other than it's one of the most hysterically funny pictures to find its way into my email in-box in months. All I have to say to the soldier is, we feel your pain.

Blogger Baby

Congratulations to new father Rob Huddleston.

December 27, 2007

NYT Seeks Bloggers

The New York Times Co. is looking for a blogger to write for LifeWire.com, its new "online content startup" that is intended "to create and distribute lifestyle-oriented articles to top Web publishers." Initial clients include About.com and Weather.com, for whom LifeWire has provided "original news features, blog posts and service-oriented articles."

The company seeks a freelance writer or experienced blogger "to create informative and practical articles on a range of topics including relationships, small business information, education, housewares, baby products and consumer electronics. Says the job ad: If you've been paid to blog daily for at least two years, we'd like to speak with you as well.

Bob Likes Fred

Bob Krumm explains why he's for Fred Thompson.

Who Is Jim Gilmore?

Glenn Reynolds says he doesn't "know much about ... Jim Gilmore, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate in Virginia, in a post re-promoting Reynolds' podcast with Mark Warner, the Democratic candidate for the same seat. Reynolds links to Gilmore's campaign website, but should have clicked on to the candidate' bio. Gilmore was governor of Virginia from 1998-2002 - known for education reform, for cutting taxes and spending, and for being strongly pro-life, but also for a streak of progressive conservatism.

Gilmore proposed and signed into law Virginia's first stand-alone Martin Luther King Holiday. Gilmore and his wife hosted a historic reception in the Governor's Mansion for Coretta Scott King and announced a technology partnership between Virginia and the King Center for Nonviolence. He also proposed and funded a new African-American History Trail in Virginia and called upon the State Board of Education to include a more diverse range of historical figures in Virginia's Social Studies curriculum. Test scores during Gilmore's term showed a narrowing of the "achievement gap" between minority and white students. Gilmore also significantly increased funding for Virginia's two historically black universities, Norfolk State University and Virginia State University.

While governor, Gilmore created the nation's first state Secretary of Technology, established a statewide technology commission, and signed into law the nation's first comprehensive state Internet policy.

Until a until a few months ago Gilmore was a long-shot candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. His resume also includes: attorney, army intelligence specialist, prosecutor and state attorney general.

He was term-limited to one term and succeeded by ... Mark Warner.

Since leaving the governor's office, Gilmore has continued in public service. Congress chose him to chair a national commission charged with making recommendations on methods to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks on the United States. The Gilmore Commission warned in 1999 and in 2000 that America was facing a possible terrorist attack. After 9/11 Congress adopted 146 of the Gilmore Commission's 164 recommendations.

Gilmore also chaired a Congressional Commission to study Internet Commerce and guided that group to a recommendation that the Internet remain free of taxation. He currently is president of USA Secure, a not-for-profit homeland security think tank, and he is a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Gilmore is a member of the board of directors of the NRA. He's strong on private property rights.

He also is a regular blogger. Reynolds should do a podcast with Gilmore. They'd certainly have a lot to talk about.

Compare and Contrast

Given that the Democratic Party is on the verge of asking America to replace President George. W. Bush with Hillary Clinton, it's worth comparing who Bush pardons with who Clinton's husband Bill pardoned when the pair occupied the White House before.

Bush pardons little-known people of run-of-the-mill offenses who have long since straightened up their lives. The Clintons pardoned: corrupt political hacks (ex-Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, and former Clinton aide Susan McDougal, pardoned for her crime of refusing to testify - against Clinton - in the Whitewater investigation), wealthy political benefactors (Marc Rich), and crooks who paid big money to Hillary Clinton's brothers. Clinton also commuted the sentences of a group of murdering terrorists - the FALN - responsible for more than 100 bombings across the U.S. in the 1970s between 1974 and 1983, along with Clinton's drug-addicted half-brother, and ex-Illinois Congressman Melvin Reynolds, who had been convicted of bank fraud, 12 counts of sexual assault - on a 16-year-old girl - not to mention obstruction of justice, and solicitation of child pornography.

Given the Clintons' track record, I would anticipate a Hillary presidency resulting in a pardon for Norman Hsu.

December 26, 2007

The Possibility of Perfection

I'm a Tennessee Titans fan, but this coming Saturday night, I'll be rooting for the New England Patriots.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

David Warren reports on the history - and dark future - of the birthplace of Jesus.

Threat Threads

Mark Steyn's latest column finds the underlying thread that connects a British TV reality show about living under Islamic law with the view of some eco-freaks that babies are pollution. Also, Steyn's free-speech rights are under assault in Canada. By Islamic fanatics using Canada's "Human Rights Commission" kangaroo court process. David Warren explains, and Steyn also comments here.

Blogging for Dollars

The AP reports on bloggers who are making money blogging. And not just pocket change.

Cause and Effect

In the fight to reduce illegal immigration, we need more of this as it seems to be working.

Iowa Forecast

Dean Barnett predicts the results of the Iowa Caucuses, now less than two weeks away...

December 25, 2007

The Reason

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
- Luke 2: 1-20

The gifts we give and receive today pale in comparison to the incomparable and undeserved gift God gave the world 2,000 years ago, the gift of His son, whose actual birthdate is unknown except to God but which Christians the world over choose to celebrate today

33

Justin Mundie wishes you a Merry Christmas and a radical new year.

December 23, 2007

What'll They Think Of Next...

This is the Eye-Fi memory card for digital cameras that take SD-format cards. My camera takes Compact Flash cards, so I can't use it, but I wish I could. It's got built-in wi-fi. That's right, the little Eye-Fi card has wi-fi on board, allowing the user to automatically and wireless upload their photos to their PC - and to their favorite online photo-sharing site or social-networking site like, say, Flickr. Or FaceBook. Or TypePad. Or Shutterfly. I imagine that soon you will be able to use the Eye-Fi card to automatically upload photos directly to your blog.

The journalistic possibilities are rather interesting to contemplate.

The Eye-Fi card, released just a couple months ago by Eye-Fi Inc., a venture capital-backed Silicon Valley start-up, is $99.99 at Amazon.com.

Update: Click the Amazon link or image of the Eye-Fi card and you'll see from the Eye-Fi page at Amazon that another company sells a $24.99 adapter that allows SD-format memory cards be used in digital devices that use Type II Compact Flash cards. Not sure if the wi-fi feature would work, though, but I can't think of a technical reason why it wouldn't.

December 21, 2007

Flip Flop Mike

State Sen. Micheal Williams, the ex-Republican-turned-Independent, is running for re-election in the solidly Republican 4th district, reports the subscription-only Tennessee Journal. According to the TJ, Williams sent a reelection fund-raising letter to lobbyists this week declaring that he's in a fight with "right-wing extremists" and needs his "true friends" to stick with him. His true friends are ... special interest lobbyists.

Check out Williams' 1996 campaign ad, in which he declares, "Mike Williams does NOT take money from special interests. Never has. Never will."

Click to enlarge.

Just another broken promise from Mike Williams.

Meet George Jetson...

Is this 300-mpg hybrid (gas-electric) car in your future? (Full story from Popular Mechanics here.

Get Ready, Oak Hill

The Bredesen administration's 30-day delay on blasting for the underground ballroom at the Governor's Mansion in residential Oak Hill will have expired one week from today.

Ballroom Bredespin

The Chattanooga Times-Free Press rounds up the views of various Chattanooga-area lawmakers on the massive underground ballroom complex that Gov. Phil Bredesen and his wife, Andrea Conte, are trying to build on the grounds of the Governor's Mansion.

State Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, says the project is "just preposterous to be thinking about at a time we're in a (budget) crunch."

But state Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, defended the Bredesen-Conte ballroom plan and, according to the T-FP story, Favors believes the project is privately funded.

Rep. Favors hasn't been paying attention. Or she's just parroting the Bredespin on the project.

No matter how loudly Bredesen, Conte and State Architect Mike Fitts claim it is privately funded, the ballroom project is not really privately funded. The Bredesen administration diverted $4 million in private funds donated for the renovation of the existing Governor's Mansion in order to pay for the ballroom, and then pumped millions of tax dollars into the renovation project to replace the diverted private dollars. The renovation was supposed to be funded largely with private donations.

The shell game is meticulously documented here.

When Bredesen and Conte first announced the renovation plan, it was to cost around $9.5 million, with $1.5 million coming from taxpaers. The remainder, about $8 million, was to be funded through donations raised from private individuals.

Today, largely because of the ballroom project, the renovation is being funded mostly with tax dollars, and the taxpayers' overall contribution to the mansion renovation and expansion project is at $12.8 million, of a total cost expected to top $19.2 million.

The ballroom is called "Conservation Hall" even though it will require a rather liberal expenditure of tax dollars. Not only will it divert private funds from the renovation, which will be replaced with tax dollars, the ballroom also will necessitate the state spending $3.86 million to build a connecting hallway, elevators and other "improvements" that wouldn't be needed if the ballroom itself wasn't built.

Other lawmakers quoted in the Andy Sher story include state Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, who suggests the cost of the renovation may be "extravagant," and.state Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, who says that as Bredesen "looks for ways to cut the budget next year" in the face of a shortfall in projected revenue, "first of all, he can literally start in his own front yard."

Update: The Friday City Paper reports on the Oak Hill Planning Commission meeting, where commissioners gave the project a thumb's down, but an administration spokesman asserted the state can proceed legally despite the planning commission's rejection of the plan.

While the City Paper quotes an administration flack asserting that legal position, The Tennessean story on the same meeting just accepts the claim as true, writing, "The city of Oak Hill has no authority to veto the project on Curtiswood Lane, but state officials have said they want to work with the city and residents."

But while the administration is claiming that legal position based on a single opinion from one assistant attorney general, other lawyers who have studied the matter say the state's legal claim is weak. The chances are sky-high the road to the ballroom now runs through a courtroom.

The Tennessean does describe the shell game accurately:

The Tennessee Republic[an] Party has jumped into the fray, saying the cost to taxpayers has grown "like kudzu" and that costs have shifted.

State Building Commission minutes show much of the mansion renovation originally was to be covered by donations to the foundation. Now taxpayers are paying for most of that work and the underground meeting hall is being paid for by the foundation.

Republicans also say they are concerned that the cost to build the hall does not include money taxpayers will have to spend every year on utilities, upkeep and staffing.

Update: A lawyer explains the jurisdictional issue:

The State is attempting to force this project upon the elected local government officials in Oak Hill without regard to applicable state law. The State has submitted plans to Oak Hill for "comment," but has insisted that it can proceed without awaiting any action by the Oak Hill planning commission (this according to a November 27 letter from Deputy Attorney General Kevin Steiling to city officials in Oak Hill).

Contrary to Mr. Steiling’s assertion, nothing in Tenn. Code Ann. Section 13-1-104 exempts the State from the normal procedures applicable to local planning commission approval for projects such as this. Instead, the statute contemplates that such a project might well be submitted for local planning commission approval by the State itself.

If the project is disapproved by the planning commission, the State governmental body has the same authority to overrule the planning commission on State projects that the local governmental body would have on local projects. But the governmental body, here the SBC, must do so by a majority vote of its membership. That means that the SBC would have to conduct a public meeting, in the face of the recent publicity and criticism this project has received, and vote to overrule the wishes of the elected leaders of Oak Hill and go ahead with this ballroom project.

December 20, 2007

Heading Into 2008...

Don Surber: "The Surge worked. The Democratic Congress did not. Voters may notice that." Read the whole thing.

What else is working well? The Bush economy: "Gross domestic product rose at an unrevised 4.9% annual rate July through September, quicker than its solid, 3.8% performance in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday."

Democrats In The News

Tennessee's Democrats are in the news today. Here's a sampling...

Culture of Sleaze - Nashville Scene
In the culture of sleaze at the Capitol, it seems that no behavior is too audacious for some Democrats. They take bribes, drive blind-drunk, smash up their cars, fall off bar stools, and generally act out - or at least too many of them do, as our Boner awards attest elsewhere in this week's Scene.

State Dems need to clean up act - Nashville City Paper editorial
To even the casual observer, recent years suggest there is a clear culture of excess, corruption and lawlessness among Democratic members of the General Assembly. It would be difficult to draw any other conclusion in the wake of numerous Democrats leaving the Legislature due to problems like Cooper's and the federal Tennessee Waltz investigation. Even Gov. Phil Bredesen noted in a recent set of remarks to the state's press that Democrats had been in office for some time and therefore were probably more prone to having such problems. ... There was plenty of big talk in the halls of the Legislature after Tennessee Waltz about ethics reform. This is really more basic than that. Legislators should, at a minimum, act lawfully. We should perhaps start there when it comes to Tennessee Democratic members of the General Assembly.

Boner Awards 2007 - Nashville Scene
Mr. Smashed Goes to Watertown: State Rep. Rob Briley's shenanigans rival those of the namesake of these awards...

I'd Rather Push, Pull or Drag a Ford: Extending what has become a true Boner dynasty, state Sen. Ophelia Ford joined the top ranks of legislative goofballs with her absolutely bizarre three-minute rant against Ramtha knows what during a committee session. That was followed shortly thereafter by her fall from a bar stool while appearing to be intoxicated, followed shortly thereafter by a cab driver's accusation that she ripped a button off his shirt while he was driving her to her hotel...

The $94,000 Question: State Sen. Jerry Cooper had a very eventful year. He got caught pilfering $94,000 in reelection campaign contributions, drove knee-crawling drunk, smashed up his car, and nearly killed himself in the wreck. Yes, into every life a little rain must fall - and Cooper wasted no opportunity to drizzle all over voters...

December 19, 2007

Ballroom Shell Game

Tennessee Republicans aren't just focused on Democratic sleaze at the state capitol - we're also concerned about the waste of tax dollars, especially when the waste is tied up with arrogance, secrecy and lies from the executive branch of our state government.

That's why today we at the Tennessee Republican Party HQ released a very important press release with a blow-by-blow account of how a $350,000 maintenance project at the governor's mansion mushroomed into a $20 million extreme home makeover complete with everything except Ty Pennington and his bullhorn - and how Gov. Phil Bredesen and his wife have tried to hoodwink the public into thinking most of the project was covered by private funds when, factually, most of it is being paid for with tax dollars. And an ever-growing number of tax dollars at that.

The release includes a link to a 20-page PDF file of state records that document the claims in the release.

Culture of Sleaze 1

Excellent story in tomorrow's Nashville Scene on the "culture of sleaze" gripping the Democrat caucus in the Tennessee legislature. It's the Dec. 20 edition, on newsstands today. I'll link to the story when it's online. Here's the link.

It's Getting Bad Reviews

Click image to enlarge. Pop culture reference.

Briley's Believe It Or Not

How does state Rep. Rob Briley, a Tennessee Democrat of real conviction, recollect the day he got arrested for drunk driving and a myriad of other misdemeanor and felony charges? John Rodgers at the City Paper tells us.

December 18, 2007

Ballroom Dancer

Gov. Phil Bredesen tries to do the do the hustle as he dances around blame for why there is controversy over his planned $12 million taxpayer-funded underground ballroom at the Governor's Mansion. Gov. Ballroom claimed on Monday that opponents are using the project as a chance to "rub a little dirt" on Bredesen and his wife Andrea. The Chattanooga Times-Free Press story has audio of Bredesen's remarks. Click the link to hear Bredesen try to dance away from blame.

I'm particularly amused to hear Bredesen describe his wife's role in the project. To hear Dancin' Phil tell it, the State Building Commission came up with the ballroom idea and the state legislature made his wife take the money to build it.

"Every step of the way here the legislature has appropriated money, in many cases money she didn't even ask for, as the thing grew, and Andrea is just trying to do a good job of building this thing in the way that the Building Commission wants and the way the State Architect wants."

Update: When Dancin' Phil blames the State Building Commission for the ballroom project, he's blaming Democrats. By law, the members of the SBC are the Governor, the Comptroller, the House Speaker, the Senate Speaker, the State Treasurer, the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Department of Finance & Administration.

All of those positions were held by Democrats until January of this year when Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, replaced former Lt. Gov. John Wilder, Democrat, on the State Building Commission. All of the consequential SBC meetings regarding the ballroom, including the decision to build it, came before January of this year.

December 17, 2007

Chick-A-Boom: Are Bredesens Aiming to Beat New Blasting Regulations?

A commenter at a previous post Monday [The Bredesen Boom], suggests that Gov. Phil Bredesen and his wife may wish to start construction of the $12 million taxpayer-funded underground ballroom at the Governor's Mansion before the end of 2007 because tough new regulations on construction blasting go into effect Jan. 1, 2008.

I checked and, sure enough, Public Chapter 231 for the year 2007 indeed does amend Tennessee Code Title 68, Chapter 105, Part 1, to revise several provisions relative to blasters, and its effective date is January 1, 2008. The bill summary says the new law...

Requires the collection and maintenance of specified records regarding drilling for blasting operations; adds requirements for air blasting; requires blasting firms to offer a pre-blast survey at no charge to the owners or occupants of specified structures when the standard table of distance is exceeded; revises registration requirements for blasting and age limits for registration; requires independent limited blasters to maintain liability insurance; and makes numerous technical changes regarding explosives and blasting.

Thin-skinned as ever, Bredesen Monday blamed criticism of the ballroom project not on legitimate objections to the huge and upward-spiraling cost of the project, but on partisanship and a desire of some to "rub dirt" on him and his wife. The City Paper has the quotes:

First Lady Andrea Conte spearheaded the Executive Residence project. Bredesen said Conte has discovered that "no good deed goes unpunished" and was not pleased the construction of Conservation Hall was beginning to become political.

"Somebody sees this as an opportunity to rub a little dirt on her, a little dirt on me," Bredesen told reporters. "But in the end, I think people will be sensible about this. It's not for her own purposes. She's trying to do the right thing here and to leave something for the state to be able to use effectively for a long time in the future."

And then we learned that the Bredesen administration is planning to run roughshod over the local planning commission in Oak Hill, asserting that because the state owns the property it doesn't have to abide by local regulations.

Arrogance, lies and taxpayers' pockets being picked - that's why people are upset about this, governor. And not just Republicans. Opposition to this project is not a Republican project, it's real, it's grassroots, it crosses party lines and it's got legs.

I have a hunch we don't yet know all the details of the ballroom "bunker" project and that, as more bombshells drop, Bredesen will be wishing he already had a bunker in which to hide...

Did Rob Briley Get Off Easy?

According to news reports, state Rep. Rob Briley will only serve 10 days in jail, and pay a $350 fine, for his DUI conviction - and related felony charges including evading arrest after his flight from cops across two counties in a high-speed chase, have been dropped. Briley will also be on probation for two years and lose his driver's license for one year.

Did he get off easy? You be the judge - the Tennessee Code specifies the following punishments for a first-time DUI conviction, and I've noted what we know about Briley's punishment in relation to that provision of the code:

Also, the judge can order the DUI convict to install a vehicle Ignition Interlock Device at their own expense, and drug and alcohol treatment may be required at the judge's discretion.

We don't know if the judge ordered either of those things. (Later: Yes we do on the treatment program - see update at bottom of story.)

What we do know is Briley's jail time and fine are at the low end of what was possible - despite the fact that he was not just arrested for driving under the influence but was arrested after a lengthy chase across two counties, after crashing his car into an occupied vehicle hard enough to embed his front bumper in the back of the other car and leave it there. And upon his arrest Briley verbally assaulted police officers and then vandalized the police car.

What we don't know is whether Briley's punishment is consistent with that received by average run-of-the-mill, non-powerful, non-political DUI suspects across Tennessee. I don't know if there is a good database of stats on the levels of punishment ultimately given to first-time DUI offenders who plead guilty - if you know of one, please let me know.

Meanwhile, I seem to recall that, when Briley was first arrested, Tennessee Democratic Party officials and leading Democrats in the state took the position that they wouldn't say much about his case because it was pending. Okay. Now he's a DUI convict.

Tennessee Democrat Party Chairman Gray Sasser was quoted in a WRKN interview several weeks ago saying, "If Briley is convicted, the legislative leaders may decide to ask him to resign or remove him from some of his committee positions."

And, as Knoxville News-Sentinel writer Tom Humphrey reported Sept. 16, while the Tennessee Republican Party called for Briley to resign soon after his arrest, Tennessee Democrat Party Chairman Gray Sasser declined to do the same, noting that Briley had not been convicted of anything and "at this point in time, what's most important is that Rep. Briley gets healthy and deals with these deeply troublesome and personal issues."

Humphrey reported that House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh declined to take disciplinary action against his House Judiciary Chairman, saying only that the court system would resolve the matter of guilt or innocence and until that happens - and until he talked with Briley after his treatment program - no discipline decisions should be made.

Well, the court system has spoken. Briley is a DUI convict. He's on probation for two years, with a felony evading arrest charge still hanging over his head if he violates the terms of his probation. (Which are .. exactly what, we don't know.) * See Update below.

With Briley now convicted and sentenced for DUI - a crime so serious and deadly that the state spends millions of dollars on law enforcement to stop it and on public-service advertising to prevent it - I now await eagerly to hear Sasser and Naifeh talk about whether Briley should resign from the legislature or if it is okay for an alcohol-addict with a DUI conviction to help make laws, including DUI laws, for the state of Tennessee.

For good reason, I'm not holding my breath. The culture of corruption gripping the Tennessee Democratic Party is aided and abetted by the Democrat leadership's culture of silence when it comes to the crime and corruption of a growing number of its legislative members.

Update: The AP report says the terms of Briley's probation are that he must not "break any substantial laws" and must complete a substance abuse program.

Update: In the Tuesday edition of the City Paper, Briley's lawyer asserts that the state "really had no choice" but to grant Briley pretrial diversion on the evading-arrest felony charge. Is that true?

Apparently not. The law says that the prosecution and defense "may" agree to pretrial diversion, but there appears to be no requirement that the prosecution "shall" offer such a deal or that the defendant agree to it in cases involving evading arrest. I'd love to see stats on how many people charged with evading arrest after lengthy high-speed chases are offered pretrial diversion. I'm betting it's not 100 percent. The Wilson County District Attorney's office could have looked at the seriousness of Briley's crime - a crime which threatened the lives of countless Tennessee motorists - and chosen not to let Briley off the hook so easily.

The Bredesen Boom

Gov. Phil Bredesen and his wife may be rushing to start construction of their multi-million-dollar underground ballroom before the legislature comes back into session in January. I've received confirmation that neighbors near the Governor's Mansion in Oak Hill have begun receiving letters seeking access to their homes for inspection before blasting gets underway to dig the hole for the 13,000-square-foot ballroom complex. "Construction will soon be underway," the letter reads, adding, "Blasting will be necessary."

In a letter hand-delivered to the Oak Hill City Attorney on Nov. 27, in which Deputy Attorney General Kevin Steiling asserted that because the project was on state-owned property it was not subject to approval by the Oak Hill Planning Commission, the Bredesen administration promised to "voluntarily agree to delay the commencement of any actual construction of the facility for at least thirty (30) days after the Commission's receipt of this letter."

Dec. 27 is just 10 days away. The legislature goes back into session in early January, at which point it could take steps to delay the project. If I had to predict, I'd bet you'll be hearing loud booms from the direction of Oak Hill before New Year's Day.

Get ready, Oak Hill:

Freeloaders Update

Blowback and response

Birds of a Feather

The City Paper reveals that former state Sen. Bob Rochelle, D-Lebanon, may have played a role in the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance's decision to ask the Attorney General if they have the legal authority to fine former state Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, $120,000 for stealing nearly $95,000 from his campaign donors. The result of that action may be that Cooper is fined less than $15,000 - netting him an $80,000 profit for his crime. Rochelle probably felt he owed Cooper the assist - after all, Cooper was a big supporter of Rochelle's proposed state income tax a few years back.

December 16, 2007

Global Warming Update

Molten Lava May Be Melting Greenland's Ice Cap. Will Al Gore blame that on your car's tailpipe, too?

Tennessee: Crisis State for Healthcare Access, AMA Says

According to a January 2007 report by the American Medical Association, 17 states, including Tennessee, are currently in “medical crisis” in terms of numbers of physicians and specialists, available facilities, and affordable insurance coverage.

In its new report, Medical Crisis: A Pocketbook Matter for Employers (PDF), the American Justice Partnership reveals how patient access to health care directly affects the cost of employer-paid health insurance, affecting, and how in states that fail to embrace common sense legal reform, employers face an ever-mounting threat of health care-related litigation.

For lawmakers across the nation, the report connects the financial costs of the medical malpractice crisis with the broader economy. In states like Texas, Mississippi, and West Virginia, where state elected officials have enacted legal reforms, the business 'bottom line' improves - costs go down, companies expand, and jobs are created. In states like Pennsylvania, described by the AMA as an "extreme crisis' state for health care, the unfettered threat of litigation has resulted in some of the highest employer costs in the nation.

Passing meaningful medical malpractice lawsuit reform would help Tennessee taxpayers. As the AJP report notes, states that have done so have seen costs go down, access to specialized critical care services improve, and - this is key - the number of insured rise.

What would that mean in Tennessee? The more people insured, the fewer who need to be on TennCare.

Green Blog Fades to Black

Ecotality Life, the group blog where I have recently been blogging about alternative energy and so-called "green" tech, is ceasing publication in its current form - despite rising readership. I happen to know that some of the regular contributors there are looking for a new sponsor in hopes of reviving the publication, preferably a company in the alt-energy/green-tech sector. I wrote more than 100 posts for E-Life. You can read them all here.

Small Potatoes

The state paid $20,000 more for a new wheelchair lift at Legislative Plaza than the price the contractor bid, The Tennessean reports. Small potatoes. I mean, when the state is spending $20 million on a renovation and largest-in-the-country lavish underground ballroom at the governor's mansion, more than $12 million from taxpayers, a $20,000 cost overrun on one small part of another big renovation project is no big deal. It's not like the administration lied to the people and said the Plaza renovation was being paid for with private donations when most of the money was actually coming from taxpayers.

Besides, just because cost overruns doubled the initial cost of the Plaza renovation to $3 million, that doesn't mean the $20 million cost of the mansion renovation is going to rise any more than it already has.

And if it does, I bet the Bredesen administration won't stick taxpayers with the extra tab. You can trust them.

December 15, 2007

Freeloaders

The Tennessean has some video of "dumpster divers" - folks in Nashville who get most of their food from stuff thrown away in the trash. One of the cable networks recently did a story on the same trend, and the people in that story justified their food "shopping" choice by railing against wasteful corporations and capitalism. The usual leftwing Marxist drivel. Yet they freeload off the capitalist system they abhor by taking food they didn't pay for from Dumpsters they don't own.

Update: Here's the Tennessean story to go with the video.

Update: Got some blowback from the Left side of the Tennessee blogosphere, accusing me of not caring about poor people who have to eat out of Dumpsters, and objecting to my characterization of the "freegan" movement as driven by "marxist drivel." My response follows...

My Leftish critics ought to read the Tennessean story. These aren't poor people diving in Dumpters to surive. These are middle class people with corporate jobs who are getting their food from Dumpsters.

These middle-class "Freegans" are eating the fruits of capitalism, quite literally, without contributing a cent to support that system.

CNN:

What is a freegan? A freegan is a social activist who, repulsed by the waste produced by modern society, has taken to eating food and collecting goods that have been thrown away. Freegans are driven by an anti-capitalist dogma, mixed with environmental, anti-globalization and some vegan ideals.

As the movement's manifesto declares: "Freeganism is a total boycott of an economic system where the profit motive has eclipsed ethical considerations and where massively complex systems of productions ensure that all the products we buy will have detrimental impacts most of which we may never even consider. Thus, instead of avoiding the purchase of products from one bad company only to support another, we avoid buying anything to the greatest degree we are able."

I have been unable to find a link to the recent cable news story that I referenced in my initial post. I think the "marxist drivel" in it was actually in the post-story live chit-chat between anchor and guests - but if you go to Google News and search for "freegan" you'll find many examples of stories which show freeganism to be rooted in anti-capitalist thought - what I called "marxist drivel."

Here are some examples:
ABC News, Dec. 16, 2007

Des Moines Register, Dec. 2, 2007

The Des Moines Register piece says this:

"Basically, freeganism is a boycott of the kind of production methods and overconsumption that has increased at a frightening pace in the last 50 years in most of the developed world," said Madeline Nelson, who helps run a major freegan Web site and group in New York City...

Hey, if you want to eat out of garbage cans, more power to you. Just spare me the anti-capitalism rant while you freeload off the capitalist system - and by all means do NOT ask me to shell out tax dollars to pay for your healthcare when you get sick from eating food from Dumpsters. You shouldn't want my dollars anyway, being as I earned them through the capitalist system.

Again, I'm not opposed to people eating for free or using stuff other people throw away. I AM opposed to poseurs who claim to be doing it because they're anti-capitalism and all that.

You're anti-capitalist? Fine. Go live in the mountains in a tent you made from sticks and the hide of a dead bear, and wear clothing you made from fur of animals you killed with a hand-carved wooden spear, and eat only the animals you kill (or find already dead) or whatever roots and berries you can find, because if you use tools and wear clothes and eat food produced by the capitalist system, you aren't anti-capitalist any more than the anti-global anarchists with their cell phones and iPods are - you're just against paying for it.

Update: One of the critics takes issue with my assertion that freegans are "leeching off the system," because they, by taking things out of the trash, actually lower the trash hauling bill for the corporations that threw the stuff away.

Said commenter needs to take Econ 101. Freegans may help the grocery store by lowering their trash-hauling bill, though I doubt it. But they still are leeching off the system because they are not paying for the food, which means that the farmers that grew the food and harvested it, and the companies that processed it, shipped it, etc., are not being paid.

Correction: Those farmers and processors and distributors actually are being paid - just not by the freegans.

There is no free lunch. Just because the freegans don't pay for stuff doesn't mean the cost of producing and distributing the stuff doesn't have to be paid. If the Freegans aren't contributing monetarily to the system that grows and distributes food, that just means the rest of us food-eating folks will pay higher prices over the long term.

Those of us who pay for our food at Whole Foods and Publix and Kroger and the local donut shop are subsidizing the freegans.

Don't agree with me? Than answer this: What happens if everyone becomes a freegan? That's simple. There would be no food in the Dumpsters for any of us because all of the grocery store chains and the wholesalers and the farmers would all go out of business.

The Past or the Future

The Associated Press reports that state Sen. John Wilder, D-Somerville, plans to run again for the state Senate in 2008. Wilder, who will be 87 on election day, served as Senate Speaker and Lt. Governor for 36 years until the Democrats lost the majority in the 2006 election. Republican state Rep. Dolores Gresham and Selmer physician Tim Linder are both considering running for the Republican nomination to challenge Wilder.

With Wilder's party sliding into minority status in the state Senate, Wilder's power - already diminished by losing the Lt. Gov. post - will decline further after the '08 election as Democrats are unlikely to recapture the state Senate in 2008. Thus, the election will be a give voters a chance to chose between the past and the future.

December 14, 2007

A Refresher Course in the First Amendment

University of Georgia journalism professor (and former NBC correspondent) David Hasinski needs a refresher course in the First Amendment. Hasinski wrote a column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution asserting that Big Journalism should "monitor and regulate" bloggers, and J-schools should "certify" citizen journalists. He also, oddly, asserts that because Big Journalism in America doesn't have its own professional standards and licensing board, "anyone has a right to declare himself or herself a journalist."

Mr. Hasinski, with all due respect, it is the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press that gives any American the right to do journalism and declare himself or herself a journalist." When the authors of the First Amendment said "they press," they did not mean the news media as we today understand the term. They meant, quite literally, the printing press. In modern terms, that means the tools of publication - the printing press, the computer terminal, the Internet, the television camera, the radio mic and the broadcasting tower.

I used to be a professional journalist, complete with a J-school degree. But I've never been so arrogant about journalism that I've claimed or believed the First Amendment was written to protect only members of the "news media." It was written to protect the rights of ALL Americans.

The First Amendment says the right of the people to use the tools of communication "shall not be infringed." ALL of "the people," Mr. Hasinski, not just a self-appointed, self-righteous media elite epitomized by, well, you.

With all due respect, Mr. Hasinski, that protection is why you were able to be a reporter for NBC, why you're able to teach the craft of journalism to students at the University of Georgia and why you're able to write - and have published - your inane thoughts about having uncertified, unregulated, unlicensed people who practice the craft of journalism for for-profit Big Journalism outfits somehow be given the right to monitor, regulate and certify your fellow citizens who chose, instead, to do their journalism - reporting, commentary, video, whatever - independently via their blogs and YouTube.

And, with all due respect Mr. Hasinski, your lead example of the so-called "risk" of "unfettered citizen journalism" - CNN's use of a question from a Hillary Clinton campaign worker in its Republican Presidential YouTube Debate while concealing the connection and bias of the questioner - and is not an example of low standards in citizen journalism. It is an example of the failure of CNN - a supposedly professional media organization - to live up to the minimum standards of the profession.

When CNN and the rest of Big Journalism cleans up its own house, Mr. Hasinski, perhaps the world of citizen journalism will want to take some lessons from it. Until then, you would best serve your profession by encouraging it to learn something the citizen journalists. Because they seem to do a much better job of fact-checking and research than CNN. They also understand the true meaning of the First Amendment better than Mr. Hasinski.

See also:
Warner Todd Huston's response to Hasinski at NewsBusters.org.

Update: Hasinski also proposes that J-schools like the one where he teaches "should create mini-courses to certify citizen journalists in proper ethics and procedures." While that concept is laudable, I have to wonder who Hasinski might bring in as guest lecturers. I'm looking forward to hearing Dan Rather teach document authentication and the novel "fake but accurate" defense...

Just What the World Needs...

Scientists in South Korea have created glow-in-the-dark cats. That's gonna be awesome around Halloween...

From the Department of Not-Quite-Getting-It

The communications office of Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has produced the first of what is planned as a weekly "New Media Hot Sheet" round-up of blog political coverage. Oddly, the New Media Hot Sheet is published as a Microsoft Word document, and only weekly, rather than in a "new media" format such as a daily blog.

Unbelievable

Various Republican presidential candidates have expressed their views on reforming the federal tax code. Some are for a flat tax, or at least a "flatter" tax; others express admiration for the FAIR Tax. I'm for either one - just so long as we get rid of the IRS.

Fighting Terrorism One Small Business At A Time

Entrepreneurship professor/blogger Jeff Cornwall, at the newly-redesigned Entreprenuerial Mind blog, writes that he's helping rebuild Iraq from right here in Nashville.

I have had the pleasure to interact with the 502nd Infantry Regiment that is working to bring entrepreneurial economic development to Iraq. It is part of the story that is just not getting reported. My main contact has been Major Tim Collier, on the right of this picture from Camp Victory, Iraq. He is part of team working to help rebuild the economy from the ground up.

When Democrats Attack

NewsChannel5 reporter Phil Williams comments on a recent attack by the Tennessee Democratic Party on state Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin:

The Tennessee Democratic Party's latest "Munday Message" passes along a column written by Sumner County Democrat Leonard Assante, "charging that state Sen. Diane Black did not exclude herself from voting on legislation which provided her husband's corporation with potentially $1.4 million in state contracts."

Assante's column - which quotes a WSMV-TV story that, in turn, quoted Assante - notes that the Sumner County Republican's husband heads the Aegis Sciences Corporation. That drug testing firm has three state contracts, potentially worth up to $1.4 million.

And, now, the rest of the story.

Sen. Black fully discloses her husband's interests on financial forms required by law. Furthermore, according to information from Assante, it appears that all she ever did was to vote on the state budget.

But here's the clincher: According to a state contracts database, all three of Aegis Science Corporation's contracts were awarded by the Bredesen administration through competitive bidding -- without any input from Black or anyone else in the legislature.

December 13, 2007

Thoughs on the Nursing Home Crisis...

Another day at the office, another chance to thump Democrat failures.

It's the Spending, Stupid

Various news media are reporting that Tennessee Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz is predicting the state will have a "revenue shortfall" of about $200 million this year, a fgure he arrived at by averaging the revenue projections from various economists who testified before the State Funding Board yesterday. From the City Paper story:

While it's not clear how much new revenue the state expects for next budget year, the revenue slowdown is expected to give the Bredesen administration a harder time putting together its budget proposal.

Andy Sher at the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, reports that one economist - Middle Tennessee State University economist Albert DePrince Jr. - told the State Funding Board he expects the "revenue shortfall" could reach $330 million this fiscal year.

The economists and Goetz blame a "slowing" economy, but the economy - and revenue - continue to grow. To borrow a phrase, It's not the economy, stupid, it's the spending.

I keep putting the phrase "revenue shortfall" in quotes because, in reality, there is no revenue shortfall, merely excessive spending. And that's not an ideological statement. It's math.

The "revenue shortfall" is artificial, created not by a decline in tax revenues - which continue to rise and will be higher this fiscal year than in any previous fiscal year in the state's history. The "shortfall" is driven by the Bredesen administration's decision to spend $723 million more this year than the state constitution's budget growth formula permits. That formula, called the Copeland Cap, says state spending can not grow faster than the rate of growth of the state's economy, measured by the growth of incomes of the people of Tennessee. The goal is to keep spending growth at a level where the people's income growth can afford it without a tax increase.

This current fiscal year budget includes $723 million in spending over the Copeland Cap. The Bredesen administration hid most of that excessive spending - some of it financed by a tax increase on cigarettes - by deliberately ignoring the constitution and state law on how the cap number is to be calculated. The administration's own attorney general issued an opinion indicating the administration did not follow the law. (The administration calculated the growth cap number based on the previous year's revenue, rather than based on the previous year's spending, as state law and the constitution clearly specify. The state had a huge revenue surplus last year, so using revenue rather than spending allowed the administration to set a higher baseline for calculating the cap.)

Subtract that $723 million in excessive spending from the budget and even if the most dire of the economists' revenue forecasts comes true, Tennessee would still end this fiscal year with a $393 million revenue surplus.

Resources
For an explanation of how the administration overspent the cap by $723 million but hid most of it from the legislature and the public, read this. For the attorney general's opinion, click here.

An Interview With Huckabee's Campaign Chairman

Business Tennessee magazine has a thoroughly interesting interview with Chip Saltsman, the former chairman of my current employer and current chairman of the Mike Huckabee presidential campaign.

December 12, 2007

Entrepreneurial Mind 2.0

Dr. Jeff Cornwall's blog, The Entrepreneurial Mind, has been redesigned.

Tennessee's $114.6 Million Surplus

Tennessee Gov. Bredesen's budget deficit shrank just a little in November as tax collections came in slightly above estimates. Overall, the administration has collected $126.4 million less revenue than it expected to collect four months into the fiscal year. Business tax receipts were above estimates in November, but the cigarette tax gap between projections and revenues continues to grow.

The Bredesen budget is $723 million over the state constitution's limit on the growth of state spending over the previous year - designed to keep the growth of government affordable without a tax increase. That's $60.25 million in excessive spending per month, or $242 million over four months. If the Bredesen administration had kept its spending within the constitutional limit, state government would currently have a $114.6 million revenue surplus through the first four months of the fiscal year.

Excessive spending, not insufficient tax revenue, is the cause of the "shortfall."

The Cooper Loophole

The City Paper reports that the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance is not sure it has the legal authority to fine former state Sen. Jerry Cooper $120,000 for stealing nearly $95,000 from his campaign donors. State law says the maximum fine can be $10,000 per offense - Cooper stole the money via 23 separate checks, so it would seem they could fine him up to $230,000. But state law also says the maximum fine can be 15 percent of the "amount in controversy." In Cooper's case, 15 percent is $14,152.50.

The TREF is seeking guidance from the state Attorney General. If the AG says the maximum fine is no more than 15 percent of the "amount in controversy," that would mean it is, by law, profitable for a corrupt legislator to steal money from the legislator's own campaign account. Want to take $10,000? Just cut the TREF a check for $1,500 and you're free and clear.

If the Cooper case has exposed a loophole, I'd suggest state law be amended to say "15 percent plus the amount in controversy."

Confirmed: Bredesen's Bunker Would Be Largest Ballroom at Any Governor's Mansion in the Nation

Ask and ye shall receive. As noted here earlier today I emailed the administrator of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion seeking specifics about the size of the mansion's "Grand Hall." Here is mansion administrator Ron Maxwell's response:

The Arkansas Governor's Mansion Grand Hall is about 11,000 square feet, but that includes the actual dining room floor space, an upper and lower glass atrium space that connects the main hall to the old mansion (it serves as a reception area/art gallery as well), the banquet kitchen, side storage and office space.

There is a grand staircase that takes up a lot of room leading down to the main hall. The dining hall itself measures 70 feet from the foot of the grand staircase to the small stage at the far end. It is 40 across and 22 feet deep (floor to ceiling). For a seated luncheon or dinner we can comfortably seat 220 people. For a buffet reception we can comfortably accommodate up to 350 people. For a theatre-style set up, we can seat about 300 people.

The Grand Hall is used for a variety of social functions and can be rented out by the general public. Our Governor's Mansion Commission (eight people appointed by the Governor) sets these guidelines and adopts policies governing its use. We have three full time chefs on staff and use nine or more prison trustees for food service, set up and clean up. We don't do weddings, wedding receptions, anniversary parties, birthday parties, dances and political fundraisers. We do get a lot of use by non-profit groups that wand a good space to hold a fundraising event and we encourage that.

The usage fee varies, but right now the maximum we charge is $750 for a large seated dinner or reception and $500 for a seated luncheon or reception. Tables, linens, china, glassware and silverware are all included in the fee, which is a very good deal when you think about it. Rental groups must bring in any centerpieces they want.

The service of alcohol is permitted, but groups wanting to do so must bring in their own. We can't purchase alcohol with state funds. Most groups get their beer and wine donated by local distribution companies.

Our governor, Mike Beebe, and his wife, believe that since the Governor's Mansion and Grand Hall are tax-payer supported facilities, that the citizens of Arkansas should be allowed to use the facilities. We are not in it to make a profit, just cover expenses, operation and maintenance, and present a nice facility that the people can be proud of.

It is unlikely the "Bredesen Bunker" ballroom will be made available for rental by outside groups, given the neighbors' hostility to the facility even being built in the quiet residential neighborhood, even though, rest assured, its operation will be funded by taxpayers.

Bunker Mentality

The new non-partisan Tennesseans for Accountability in Government has done some fine research which they released at their press conference yesterday - and which the news media promptly ignored - showing that of the other 49 states, 35 do not have any kind of banquet hall or ballroom in their governor's mansion (and six of the 35 don't even have an official governor's residence).

The data released by TAG (see PDF) also indicates that, if built, Tennessee's ballroom would be the largest in the country, trailing only Arkansas. But is TAG accurate? While the organization points to the media-reported 13,00-square-foot size of the Bredesen's planned Tennessee party hall, the City Paper today notes that while the addition to the governor's mansion will total more than 14,000 square feet, the actual banquet room will be only 3,000 square feet, with the rest taken up by hallways, cloakrooms, kitchen and other such functions.

But that still likely would make it the largest such facility in the country, according to the data collected by TAG.

The largest currently is the "Grand Hall" at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, built largely with private funds during the Huckabee administration, totals 12,000 square feet according to information provided to TAG by the Arkansas Governor's Mansion administrators. This article from Stateline.org puts the actual size at 13,950 square feet.
But how large is the main ballroom/dining hall? I've got an email in to the folks who run the Arkansas Governor's Mansion for an exact number, but judging from the photos and the specs - it can seat about 250 people for a banquet - Arkansas actual ballroom is less than 3,000 square feet. (The 5,770-square-foot main hall at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville can seat 500 at tables - a hall that seats 250 would be about half that size, or about 2,900 square feet.)

That article, from 2006, also includes this interesting bit of information: "Governor's Mansion Administrator Don Bingham said the facility is available for rent by the public."

Related: Terry Frank blisters Gov. and Mrs. Bredesen on their plans for a multi-million-dollar taxpayer-funded underground party bunker at the Tennessee governor's mansion.

Exit question: Didn't Tennessee state government just recently spend millions of tax dollars renovating the War Memorial Auditorium to host large dinners and other such events?

Update: I got a reply from current Arkansas Governor's Mansion administrator Ron Maxwell. His information indicates the main dining hall there is 2,800 square feet. Lots more info from Maxwell in a follow-up post here.

Tax Talk

Today's must-read in Tennessee's political blogosphere is Terry Frank's look at data showing why the future economic health of Tennessee depends on it staying a low-tax state with no income tax.

Exit question: Which political party in Tennessee has endorsed creation of a state income tax and tried to return the architect of the income tax to the state Senate last year? Hint: Not the Tennessee Republican Party.

Democrats in the News

Former state Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, goes before the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance today to appeal the $120,000 fine the TREF levied on him for his brazen act of stealing nearly $95,000 from his campaign donors over a two-year period. Cooper wants the fine lowered, but lowering it below $95,000 nets Cooper a profit for theft. Only about $25,000 of the fine is actually punitive. ... Meanwhile, state Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, has been indicted on a felony charge of evading arrest, and also faces a DUI charge, after his drunken crash, leaving the scene of an accident, and high-speed flight from cops in two counties.

December 11, 2007

Democrat Math

Five years ago, Gov. Bredesen and his wife, Andrea Conte, told the people of Tennessee that they would renovate the state's official governor's residence for $9.5 million, of which only $1.5 million would come from funds collected from taxpayers. Now, we are learning, the cost of renovating the mansion has ballooned to $19.2 million, with taxpayers forced to cough up $11.1 million - over half the cost.

All to renovate - and add a ridiculously large and unnecessary underground party hall - a house that is worth less than $1 million.

Does this make sense to anyone - anyone other than tax-and-spend Democrats for whom failure of a government program is simply a reason to throw more money at it?

My personal opinion: Taxpayers, and the people of Tennessee, would have been better served by selling the mansion and using the money, plus the $1.5 million plus whatever Bredesen and Conte could raise from private donors, to build a new official residence designed for the 21st century.

But, some might say, "What about the history?"

As far as I can tell, the current governor's mansion is only "historic" in the sense that it is kind of old and some previous governors lived there. The mansion on Curtiswood Lane has only been Tennessee's official residence for the state's chief ex